Lesson #32: Why Your Hair Porosity Is In Charge

You heat protect and deep condition, stay away from harmful chemicals, and your hair still is not the way you want it. I have personal experience on how this can be a frustrating process and I am here to tell you that not all is lost! Many people do not know about hair porosity and why it is the key to healthy hair. If you want your hair to be the envy of your friends, read below!

What Is Hair Porosity?

Hair porosity is your hairs’ natural ability to absorb moisture. Have you ever noticed that when it rains, water sits on top of your hair? Or just completely leaves your head soaked with the smallest sprinkle? That all has to do with hair porosity.

Why Is Knowing Your Hair Porosity So Important?

Moisture is key to healthy hair. We have all heard it. However, receiving moisture for some is easier said than done. Knowing what type of porosity your hair is will help dictate what products to use, how often to use them, and what to use them with. You will be surprised how many products you will find our wrong for your hair porosity.

The easiest test for finding out your hair porosity is the water test. Simply place 5-6 pieces of clean product free hair in a warm glass of water. Wait for 5 minutes. Look at the glass and determine where your hair is in the glass. If your hair is floating at the top, you have low porosity (like me!), if your hair is suspended in the middle of the glass, you have medium porosity, and if your hair is at the bottom of the glass, you have high porosity hair.

Low, Medium, High–Great, what does that mean?

The easiest way to understand how one’s hair strands look without analyzing them through a microscope is by the following examples:

Low Porosity hair is similar to roof shingles. Water naturally rolls off and it is harder to penetrate the hair shaft.

Medium Porosity hair is similar to that of a sidewalk (I know weird right?) While it can soak up water, it will not take hours to dry. This porosity type has a delicate balance of moisture and protein.

High Porosity hair is a sponge! It easily soaks up water and often takes forever to dry! The kicker is that this type or porosity also loses water very quickly!

We need to know more!

Never fear NYL is here! Soon I will be posting some hair care tips for each porosity type. Don’t forget to follow us on all our social media to get the latest posts!

Do you have more questions about hair porosity? Did you find out about your hair porosity? Please leave a comment below!